By Amos Aar
BENUE State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, has reportedly appointed Hon. Benjamin Omakolo as Acting State Chairman of the party following an alleged suspension of Comrade Austin Agada even as the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) was reported to have set aside the suspension.
According to The Sun, Governor Alia confirmed Hon. Omakolo’s appointment at a meeting with stakeholders of the party who visited him on Wednesday night at Government House, Makurdi demanding that he should fill the vacuum.
Alia, who called on APC members to support the new chairman, claimed that his decision to appoint the acting chairman was as a result of pressure from Benue South APC stakeholders and a court injunction that threw the seat vacant after Comrade Agada’s Owukpa Ehaje Ward 1, allegedly suspended him.
The governor further explained that Omakolo, who is said to hail from Apa LGA, was recommended for the appointment by the APC Benue South stakeholders.
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Speaking earlier at the meeting, APC State Organising Secretary, James Ornguga, said they visited the governor to explain to him the difficult times the party and its supporters were facing as a result of the suspension and the subsisting court order restraining Hon. Agada from acting as the chairman of the party in the state.
He urged the governor to use his office as the governor and leader of the party in the state to fill the vacant position of the state chairman in order to stop the party from sinking further.
The Sun added that the Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Hon. Aondona Dajoh, the Secretary of the APC in Ogbadibo LGA, Comrade Abba Isaiah, the Chairman of the APC in Konshisha LGA, Hon. Aginde Daniel, as well as the State Assistant Legal Adviser of the party, Hon. Ajuma Success, all commended the Zone (C) APC stakeholders for encouraging the governor to fill the vacant position of the state chairman.
They also commended the governor for heeding to the cries of the party faithful in the state, and for giving the nod for Hon. Omakolo to step in as the acting state chairman of the party, assuring that they will all support him to succeed.
Responding to his appointment, Hon. Omakolo, said he was overwhelmed by the trust the party faithful in the state have reposed in him, promising to unite the party, strategically placing it in a position to win more elections in the future.
However, there is a trending video in which the Chief Security Officer in charge of Government House, Makurdi was accused a couple of days ago of forcing Agada out of office and threatening to shoot him if he did not comply.
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The CSO, Commissioner for Water Resources and Sanitation, and other appointees were also accused by the APC State Director of ICT, Martinez Ibn Tyotsumeh, of allegedly packing 20 laptops, undisclosed number of phones and money meant to demobilise agents after Guma 1 State Constituency bye-election held on February 3, 2024.
APC State Publicity Secretary, Dan-Morgan Ihomun, also made similar allegation on Channels Television when he was fielding questions on the crisis rocking the broom party in Benue State.
